


Dye it Pink

by Lollijoy



Series: Love of My Life [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 16:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18183236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lollijoy/pseuds/Lollijoy
Summary: When Peter accidently dyes Rocket's new jumpsuit pink, he fears how his fellow guardian will react.





	1. That Classic "Oh Shit" Moment

As the clerk handed the cloth based bag to him, Peter felt  _real_  childlike excitement for the first time in years. He welcomed the feeling with open arms as he grabbed at the tote greedily. Peter, the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, nodded along to the information the clerk was spewing at him, even though he was hardly aware of what the man was saying.

"Remember, this jacket has been fixed to the best of my abilities," The tailor said softly, "However, the leather is old and has been patched many times. It is very delicate and I suggest you be  _very_  careful if it frays."

Peter smiled charmingly and let the bag lay at his side, it's rough fabric wrapped around his fingers. Gamora, who was standing in the closest size shop with him, listened to what else the man had to say.

"I have fixed the um...  _bullet holes_  in the left shoulder, and had the fabric re-dyed to the red it originally was. Don't wash it for the next couple days, or else the dye will bleed out." The old tailor finished, pushing his circular glasses up his nose.

"I totally understand," The human said with his usual confident smirk, "I appreciate that you could fix this piece of shit coat on such short notice."

"Just doing my job, sir."

Starlord looked over at Gamora, "We done here?"

She nodded, before taking a pouch out of her tight black boots and laying it on the grease speckled counter.

"Your units."

"T-thank you."

Gamora opened the shop door, a little tune played overhead as they stepped outside; letting the door close behind them

The Afternoon market outside the shop was bustling with all sorts of species. With a flash of flames and a flick of a pan, the area was filled with the aroma of foreign goods and spices.

"Ey, Quill!"

Peter jumped at the sound of his name, causing the Terran to look around for its source in the dense crowd. He found it in his fellow Guardian Rocket, who was currently walking over with Groot.

"Hey guys," Quill said, gazing at the sights around him, "This place sure got busy fast, right Groot?"

He elbowed Groot's wooden side in a friendly manner, giving the teenager a friendly grin. Groot didn't even seem to notice Peter's attempt at a conversation, instead looking at a small gaming device in his hands. After a few moments of patiently waiting for a response, The Terran crossed his arms and looked at Rocket in frustration.

"I'm ninety-five percent sure he's an asshole because of you."

The smaller mammal rolled his eyes with a snort, adjusting the small bag that hung from his wrist. Peter hadn't even noticed it before; It looked alot like the one he had for carrying his repaired jacket. Rocket saw Peter's confused gaze, a smirk stretching across his muzzle.

"Hey Quill, check it out." He chuckled, gazing up at him. The raccoon buried his hands into the bag, before pulling out a greyish white jumpsuit. It looked similar to the orange one Rocket owned, but with purple metal plated armour on the legs and chest instead of black. Quill wasn't sure what the metal was, but it looked strong; the violet colour glistening beautifully in the sunlight. "Cool, right?"

Peter looked dumbfounded at the piece of clothing, and he brought his own bag, which contained his old rugged red coat, closer to his thigh.

"I thought you said you weren't going to buy anything, Rocket." Gamora said, a frown on her lips. Rocket placed a claw on one of the violet pads and grinned.

"Who said I bought it?" He slyly said, teasing them. Gamora scoffed while Peter put his hand on his hip. Groot, to nobodies suprise, didn't look like he cared.

"I thought we talked about stea- Actually, I don't care, screw it," The Terran groaned, "Where's Mantis and Drax?"

"Mantis ate something and projectiled vomited on someone. Drax took her back to the ship."

Peter sighed, pressing his calloused hands to his stubbly face in annoyance.

"Alright, whatever. Let's take the m-ship back to The Quadrant."

The rest of the team nodded, walking out of the market and to where they parked the ship. It wasn't The Milano; That beauty was currently still wrecked on Berhert. Much to the displeasure of the one and only Quill, they had been too busy the last few years to actually go back and fix the damn thing. Luckily however, since their Guardian duties have died down at bit, they were finally heading back to the small planet.

The ship they used now, until at least the Milano is fixed, is called Bentar. They used the ship to dock at smaller planets. The mother ship, named the Quadrant, was just over the size limit to access many of the planets in this system's docks.

Yikes, she really is sick." The Terran frowned.

"Of course she is, why would I lie about something dumb like that?" Rocket huffed while throwing his bag beside the co-pilot chair. Peter followed suite and sat down in the pilot seat.

"Let's get back quickly, I believe the bowl Drax has given her is now full." Gamora said sternly.

Rocket nodded, his black nose twitching in disgust.

Peter pulled the ship out of their space, before quickly making their way off planet and back to the old Ravager ship. As the three of them were exiting the cockpit, they could hear Drax helping Mantis down the ramp. They carefully walked behind them, the smell of Mantis' sickness putrid.

"Flarkin hell." Rocket muttered, trying to cover his muzzle with his furry arm. Peter could only imagine how bad the smell must be for him; Quill couldn't deny how much stronger the Raccoon's nose was to his.

As they made their way up to the living quarters, Gamora sighed, looking down at her fellow Guardian, "Rocket, when will The Milano be ready to fly?"

"I say about a week, I'm planning on fixing the nav today, actually." He said, picking his canines with one of his dirty claws. She nodded, and sat down once they reached the Rec-room. Groot headed back to his room as usual, and Rocket followed him. Peter looked at the retreating pair, than back to Gamora. Opening his mouth to say something, she put up her hand to stop him.

"Put your jacket away before you do anything, Peter." She said.

"And why should I?" He asked teasingly.

Gamora looked up at him with a bored expression, "Don't you remember what the tailor said?"

Peter paused for a second, a frown on his face.  _Don't I have to… wash it? To get rid of the excess dye? Probably._  Peter nodded to himself, waving goodbye to his crush, before turning into the Southern Hall. Gamora sighed, before taking out her sword. It wasn't going to clean itself.

Peter threw the newly repaired jacket into the washer, ignoring the purple glisten of something already in the machine. He switched the setting to high, added flower smelling detergent, and turned it on. He leaned against the metal box, letting our a relaxed sigh. The small room smelled like chemicals, which burnt his nostrils. Wrinkling his nose, he quickly stuffed the cloth bag in the garbage dispenser before leaving the room.

Strutting down the hallway with a smirk plastered on his face, Peter hadn't felt this happy since the Guardians saved the Galaxy; the first time that is.

_You should've done something, Yondu died because of you-_

Saking the intruding thoughts out of his mind, he groaned in frustration. Why do my thoughts always return to Yondou?  _Yes, I miss him, but I have to move on-_

"Drax, I don't feel so good." A soft voice hiccupped, the sound emitting from the room to his left. He paused, recognizing Mantis' voice.

"Do not worry." A deep voice grumbled back.  _There's Drax._

The Terran poked his head into the room, and knocked on the slightly ajared door. Mantis was in fetal position at the foot of her cot, while Drax was rubbing her back. He looked uncomfortable sitting hunched beside her, but he didn't voice his concerns, much to Peter's suprise.

"Is everything alright in here?"

"She is getting better."

Peter nodded, drumming his fingers on the metal wall, "Cool, do you uh… need another bowl?"

Drax shaked his head; Mantis looked up and gave a small smile, her face paler than usual and her antenna droopy.

"Okay… I'm gonna go check out Rocket's progress on The Milano. If you need me, just call me up on the PA."

"Thank you, friend Peter."

Peter nodded with a soft smile, stepping out of the small room. He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts, before continuing down the hall. He turned West at a four way intersection, noticing how this way was dimmer and dirtier than the rest.

On this floor, Going North takes you to the Rec-room and cockpit. East has the kitchen, Gamora, Kraglin, and Peter's room. South is the laundry, the guest rooms, Mantis and Drax's room, Finally, West takes you to the engine room, Groot's room, and Rocket's room. Their hallway smelt like Earth and motor oil.

Peter walked down the corridor silently, passing Groot's closed door. The teenager was blasting his awful music; the beats running through the human's head painfully. He held down the temptation to run in there and turn it off, and kept on walking.

When he finally reached Rocket's cabin, the Terran flipped the switch that opened the door, and walked in. The smallest Guardian's room was dark and musty, making the human squint. The wired floor was covered with mechanical parts, dirty jumpsuits, and pots of dirt.

"What'd you want?" Rocket murmured, hunched over a large circuit board on his stained cot. Peter leaned against the doorframe, his arms folded over his chest.

"Is that the nav for The Milano?"

"Part of it," He replied. They were silent for a few moments, other than Rocket's soft humming, before the mechanic clearly got annoyed of Peter staring at him. With a soft grunt, the raccoon turned to face Quill. "What is it? Why are you in here?"

Peter shrugged, picking at his nails, "Just wanted to check in on your progress."

The Raccoon snorted, "How helpful."

Peter rolled his eyes, "I never said I was trying to be."

"Well, that part is obvious." The mechanic snickered, examining the board more closely. The Terran huffed and drummed his fingers against the door frame. Rocket looked back up from the navigation system.

"If you wanna make yourself helpful, go get my new jumpsuit," He said, turning back to his work "I left it in the washer."

Peter eyes widened, and his fingers stopped tapping against the metal. It made the silence even louder.

"Y-your new, white, amazing jumpsuit? With the fancy purple metal? It was in the washer?"

Rocket nodded nonchalantly, "Yep."

Peter quickly ran his hand through his hair, biting his lip.

_What did that clerk say again…_

_"I have fixed the… um, bullet holes in the shoulder and had the fabric re-dyed to the red it originally was._ _**Don't wash it for the next couple days, or else the dye will bleed out."** _

_Shit_.

Ignoring what else Rocket had to say, Peter mumbled an excuse and ran out of the room. He raced down the hallway, ignoring the puking coming from Mantis' room; jumping into the laundry room. He pulled open the machine's door, yanking his jacket out of the wash, he noticed the red wasn't as bright.

_Please, please please- Oh fuck no._

His shaking hand gripped Rocket's jumpsuit, and pulled it out gently.

It was bright pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudo and a review! Thanks for reading! :)


	2. Consequences

Peter pressed his fingers into the damp fabric, bile rising in his throat.

_I am royally fucked._

He quickly stood, forgetting about his own jacket that laid on the ground, and jogged towards the rec room. The wired floor vibrated with his every step; the rocket boots he had on making small indents into the metal.

"G-Gamora?" He peeped when reaching the room; holding the piece of pink clothing behind his back. Her gaze flicked over from the weapon she was cleaning, to Peter.

"Yes?"

"Um... I might've just doomed the team to a week of fighting… again."

Gamora groaned, pressing her hands against her sword's hilt tightly, "What did you do?"

The human sighed, pulling the rose colored jumpsuit from behind his back. Gamora's eyes widened and she quickly jumped up from her seat; briskly walking to his side. She handled the suit carefully, inspecting the terribly dyed threads.

"Can you fix it?" Quill asked sheepishly. She shook her head and laid her sword on the table.

"This was dyed because you washed your jacket with it." She noted, causing Quill to nod shamefully. "This will not come off if it is from a strong dye, which your coat is covered in. It is soaked in too much, Peter."

Peter gulped, ruffling his hair with his hand. He took back the jumpsuit and sighed, "How am I supposed to tell him? He'll flarken rip me to shreds if I tell the truth!"

Gamora rolled her eyes and sat down, continuing to polish Godslayer.

"We have work from The Nova Corps piling up, The Milano still needs to be fixed, and for some reason, a Ravager ship is following us and has been for the past week. I am too busy to deal with you and Rocket right now," She said, looking frustrated, "Why did you have to go and ruin his suit, Peter?"

"I didn't mean too, this isn't my fault-"

"Why did you wash your jacket? You know you weren't supposed too," The Zen-Whoberian hissed, "We have spent the last two missions saving up units to pay for that heap of stained fabric to be fixed, when It was clearly a waste."

Peter was about to lash out back at her, when Kraglin suddenly stumbled in from the northern hall; where the cockpit is. He was obviously exhausted from piloting The Quadrant out of the system. Not to mention, evading the weird Ravager ship that took a liking to stalking them. Perhaps they were crazy fans?

_Hopefully…_

"Hey guys." The Xandarian yawned, his eyes pinker than the jumpsuit in front of them. Flying since yesterday definitely had taken its toll on the poor man.

Peter handed him a chipped cup for his coffee and gave him a friendly pat on the back.

"You alright?" The Terran said with a worried look, the argument with Gamora forgotten.

"Yeah, I'm good," Kraglin replied, yawning once more. He looked over to Gamora, his gaze falling to the jumpsuit she had taken from Peter, "Isn't that a bit too small for ya, Gam? It's a nice colour though."

She rolled her eyes and handed the piece of clothing to him, "Try again."

The Xandarian's took it, rubbing his fingers across the mysterious lavander metal. He raised the coral suit to his face, taking a deep whiff of it's scent. He reeled back, his nose wrinkled

"Smells like flowers and hell."

"That's the detergent." Peter added, his arms crossed against his chest. Kraglin took another smell.

"I smell something musky too, under all that perfume stuff. Like a mix of wet fur and motor smoke," He paused, looking at Gamora with a smile, "Is this Rocket's? I didn't think he was a pink sorta guy."

Gamora rolled her eyes and took it back, "That's Peter's fault. He 'accidentally' dyed it. The fabric was originally white, and altogether very  _expensive_."

"Why does it matter? The bastard stole it anyway." Star-lord argued.

"Of course he didn't steal it, you idiot! It's his exact measurements, it's not like someone of Rocket's stature could go to a clothing store and pick a random item off the shelf! This suit was clearly custom-made." She hissed. Peter flinched at her tone, starting to feel even worse about the whole situation.  _Man, I'm such an asshole._

Kraglin put his hands up, walking in between the two, "Pete, you're worried he's gonna be mad, right?"

"I wouldn't put it like th-"

"Just think, if you dyed Yondu's jacket a 'bad' colour, what would you do?"

The human sputtered in shock, "Where did Yondu come into thi-"

" _What_ would you do." The Xandarian repeated roughly, his eyebrows rising. Peter was silent for a few moments, biting his lip nervously.

"I'd… probably tell the truth. It might be hard, and I would probably be punished, but Rocket- I mean,  _Yondu_  would appreciate being treated with respect."

Kraglin nodded, "You get what I'm saying?"

Peter sighed, taking Rocket's suit back from his friend, "Yeah, I am."

Gamora looked inbetween the men, before letting out a soft sigh, "Kraglin, go take a nap. When you wake up, this whole affair will be taken care of.  _Right_  Peter?"

The Terran swallowed nervously, but nodded.

"Good. I'll take over Kraglin's post. Hopefully I can figure out what that odd Ravager ship wants." Gamora turned around and headed up the hall to where the cockpit was.

"Good luck buddy." He patted the Human on the back, before yawning, and heading down the opposite hall to their rooms; leaving Peter alone.

Starlord sighed, and looked down at the stained suit in his hands. Everything is going to be fine…

Peter put the suit down gently on the table, before walking over to the PA system. He clicked in Rocket's room number, and began to talk into the speaker attached to the wall.

"Uh, Rocket? I need to talk to you in the rec room."

There was a pause, and the Terran could almost imagine Rocket grumbling to himself in annoyance as he walked over to his own speaker.

 _"_ _Yeah yeah, I'll be over there in a couple minutes."_  Rocket responded back gruffly after a few moments of static, his voice sounding harsher over the radio. The speaker squeaked painfully as Rocket hung up in his room.

Starlord let out a soft sigh, before going back to the table and sitting down.

Everything wasn't going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudo and a review! Thanks for reading! :)


	3. Flashbacks and Apologies

When Rocket sat down at the table, he could immediately tell something wasn't right. The way Quill sat across from him, his foot tapping nervously; Rocket could smell the scent of sweat radiating off the humie.

 _Gross_.

After a tense moment of confused silence, Rocket huffed.

"Dude, stop tapping your foot. It's annoying."

Peter immediately paused, before letting out a tired sigh. He opened his mouth to speak, but eventually closed it.  _Wait, how am I supposed to word this? Sorry Rocket for destroying one of the things you hold most dear? Man, that sucks. How about-_ Quill's train of thought was interrupted by Rocket's groan of frustration.

"Why'd you even call me down here if we're just gonna stare at eachother?" Rocket questioned, annoyed. "I've got better things to do, like fix the navigational system for the ship  _you_  crashed." He pushed himself away from the table, and hopped off his chair.

"W-wait," Peter stood up, his arms behind his back, "I did something really stupid!"

Rocket paused in his steps, before turning slowly around to look at him. Quill did stupid things all the time, but he hardly ever admitted they were stupid himself; He was arrogant like that.  _Something isn't right_. Rocket could feel the fur stand up on his neck, "Of course you did something stupid, that's a classic Quill move."

His ears flattened against his head when he didn't get huff of annoyance from the humie, or even an eye roll.  _Yeah, something definitely isn't right._

"I'm, uh, sorry Rocket." Peter muttered, cringing. He held the rose coloured suit that was behind his back even tighter.

"...sorry for what? What do you have behind your back?" Rocket squinted suspiciously, taking a step away from him.

Quill pursed his lips.  _This is it, Peter. The final moments of your life_. He hesitated, before slowly bringing Rocket's suit out from behind his back, showing it to him.

Rocket couldn't even hear Peter's frantic blubbering as he tried to explain what happened, nor did he notice how the Terran flinched when he began to walk towards him.

All of his attention was on the suit in the humie's hands.

Pink.

His brand new white suit, with rare Krylorian metal plating, was pink.

* * *

" _There's the Grelin Quadrant, and just to the right of it is the Haxla System. And, oh wow, you can see Xandar from here!" A soft female voice spoke to his left, pointing to seemingly random spots out the window of their ship. The girl let out a soft sigh, leaning her muzzle onto the crook of her elbow; her green eyes gazing through the glass. "I wish I could go everywhere. See it all."_

_Rocket's gaze softened as he turned his attention away from where she was pointing, and back to her._

" _I promise I'll take you there, Lylla. To all those places. We just need to take a few more jobs, get more units, and we'll be at the Hector- or whatever you said -System in no time."_

_The otter couldn't help but giggle into the light brown fur on her arm. She smiled up at him from where she was leaning, before standing up straight, and stepping away from the banister in front of the large window._

" _Yes, one day, we'll see it all," She glanced at him, her smile suddenly turning into a playful smirk, "But for now, I guess theiving and being stuck on this blasted ship with you will do."_

" _Really, that's it?_ 'Will do?'"  _Rocket snorted, rolling his eyes playfully, "That's an understatement. You know you love me."_

" _Hm, I suppose you're right. I do love you." She leaned forward, lovingly pressing her nose against the side of his muzzle; nuzzling him gently. Rocket's racing heartbeat began to slow as her comforting scent enveloped him, and he let out a soft happy sigh; He could stay like this forever._

_Eventually, she pulled away, a soft smile gracing her muzzle. Rocket swallowed, forcing himself to turn his attention back out the window._

" _What's your favorite one?" Rocket asked eventually, glancing at her before looking back out the window._

_Lylla hesitated, her ear twitching as she thought about the question. Rocket found it adorable, and everytime he'd mention her cute little twitch, she wouldn't be able to meet his gaze for the rest of the day; her blush hidden by her fur._

" _Well… I think they all look equally beautiful."_

_Rocket snorted, "That's a cop out, you gotta pick one."_

_It was now Lylla's turn to roll her eyes, although she was snickering as well._

" _Fine," She suddenly jumped, her eyes widening, "Oh, I know! The Lavesh Nebula!"_

" _The Lavesh what?"_

" _The Lavesh Nebula," She repeated, "That's definitely my favorite."_

" _Where is it?"_

" _You can actually see it from here. See?" The otter pointed out the window._

" _Uh… here?" He tried to follow where she was pointing, but Rocket immediately knew he was wrong, due to her playfully annoyed sigh._

" _No, just, here-" She grabbed his hand, extending his pointer finger out for him, before pointing it out the window. Rocket's heart skipped a beat at her touch, and he suddenly felt too hot under his fur. "-See it now?"_

_His copper eyes followed where his claw laid on the glass; his gaze coming to rest on a small but beautiful cloud of stars at the very top of the window._

" _Oh."_

" _Isn't it just so beautiful?" She asked him, looking up at it as well, "The colour, pink is it called? It's amazing against the purple nebulae surrounding it."_

 _Rocket's gaze fell back to Lylla's face. He marveled in how her eyes seemed to mirror the nebulas themselves. Clouds of green, yellow, purple, and yes… even pink were reflected in her large black pupils. It was stunning._ She  _was stunning._

" _Pink… it's my absolute favourite colour solely because of the Lavesh Nebula." She continued, not even noticing the loved filled gaze that laid on her._

" _Yeah…," Rocket muttered, not even aware he was talking, all of his attention on the spirals of colours reflected in her eyes "I think pink is my favourite colour too."_

* * *

"-And I mean, if you think about it, you'd figure that a Space washer would be smart enough  _not_  to ruin valuable clothing. So if you look at it that way… I'm just as much as a victim as you?" Peter licked his lips nervously, before letting his shoulders sag. He knew his defense sucked. "Uh… Rocket, you okay buddy? I'd figure I'd ready be dead by now. Why are you just… staring at me?"

He stayed silent.

"Rocket?" Quill asked again, beginning to get worried.

The Raccoon's eyes fell down to the dyed suit in his hands, still silent. Peter had handed it to him while he was in his transelike state  _Pink… it's pink._

"Look, dude, you're creeping me out." Peter admitted, "Yell, curse, scream at me, please! That'd be way better than whatever it is that you're doing."

Rocket, still not meeting his gaze, suddenly turned his back to Peter; turning down the hall that led to his quarters and walking away.

"R-rocket? Where are you going?" He asked him, confused, hesitant to follow _. I mean… I should probably take my chances and leave him alone._  He sighed.  _No, I gotta go try to fix this._

"Rocket!" He yelled, briskly walking down the hall to try and catch up with him. Peter saw a familiar ringed tail go around a corner, "C'mon buddy, we need to talk about this."

He continued to follow Rocket, and was only stopped when the Raccoon slammed his fist against the bottom that would slide his bedroom door close; therefore slamming the door in the Terran's face. It stopped Peter in his tracks, and the human felt his blood run cold.  _Did he just lock himself in his room? With all of his bombs and dangerous gadgets, ninety-five percent of those that could easily kill me?_

Rocket still didn't respond, and when Quill pressed his ear against the metal door, he heard nothing.  _Oh god, I'm so doomed._

"Um… okay. Yeah! We can talk at Dinner! Good plan, buddy!" Peter grinned nervously, chuckling softly, "I'm just gonna… go then. Uh, see ya." He patted Rocket's door softly, before turning back around to leave.

_He has to come out at Dinner, right?_

* * *

Two cycles later, and Rocket still hadn't left his room.

Peter sat at the kitchen table, a bowl of mysterious brown stew in front of him. He wasn't eating however, as his eyes and most of his attention was on Rocket's empty chair.  _Two days and he still hasn't given up… I'm actually starting to miss his snarky little face!_

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. The sudden appearance of Gamora behind him caused the Terran to yelp, almost knocking his bowl over. It would be an understatement to say Peter was jumpy ever since Rocket himself away in his room.

"Jesus Christ, Gamora. Don't sneak up on me like that."

"I wasn't sneaking," She said cooly, sitting down beside him at the table. Gamora hesitated, before finally letting out a tired sigh, "Peter, what exactly did you say to Rocket when you apologized?"

"I don't know, just the usual apology, I wasn't an asshole or anything."

"We'll, obviously you did something wrong," She sighed, muttering under her breath, " _I live with children…"_

"What, do you think I insulted him or something? It isn't my fault he's pulling the silent treatment!"

"It is quite odd for Rocket to act like this. I expected there to be alot more fighting when you told him…" She admited, frowning.

Peter nodded in agreement, sighing, "He must  _really_  hate the colour pink."

Gamora rolled her eyes, standing back up, "He can't lock himself in there forever. He has to eat eventually."

Peter followed her lead, standing as well, "I'm gonna go try talking to him again. If that doesn't work, than we'll just have to wait it out. Like you said, he can't stay in there forev-"

The familiar yet loud squeak of the intercoms turning on interupted Peter, and caused the Terran to once again yelp in suprise.

"CAP'N!" A gruff voice suddenly sounded over the PA, the southern drawl in Kraglin's voice lost over the static, "I NEED YOU UP TOP!"

Starlord and Gamora shared a quick look, before they both raced to the cockpit. When they arrived, Peter slightly out of breath while Gamora was gloriously silent, Kraglin scurried over to their side, eyes wide.

"The Ravager ship that were following us, they sent in a message." The Xandarian told them quickly.

"Holographic?"

"Nah, text. Want me to read it out?"

Peter nodded, swallowing nervously.

Kraglin jogged over to the Co-pilot's chair, opening the screen so he could read it once again. " _Guardians. Go to coordinates H19 7IWL219A24+D9NNI34, land on the northwest side of planet at 12:00 Xandar time. If you do not comply, we out arm you ten to one, and our ship can outjump you. We have something that may interest you."_

There was a tense silent as Gamora and Peter took in this information.

"It's obviously a trap." Quill finally says.

" _We have something that may interest you…_ " Gamora repeated, frowning.

"Please don't tell me you're actually thinking of doing this." Peter turned to her, grimacing.

Gamora met his gaze, her eyes steely, "We must keep our options open."

Peter groaned, before turning to Kraglin, "Where's the planet they were talking about."

The Ravager nodded, as if he expected the question, before turning to the Quadrant's main Navigational system. He inputted the coordinates.

"Not far from here, only one jump away. It's called  _Zaxyl_  and it's in the Haxla system."

"Is the Ravager ship still following us?"

Kraglin shook his head, "No, it jumped a few clicks back, a couple hours ago."

"Kraglin, is there any chance you know which Ravager fraction that ship belongs to?" Gamora asked.

The Xandarian grimaced, "Not exactly. I've only ever been apart of Yondu's clan, and we weren't exactly friendly with the other clans. If I saw the Captain's face, I could tell you who they were, but a ship?" He shook his head.

"It's okay man, you've helped plenty already," Peter smiled fakely, before sighing, "So. We've got a couple hours to make a decision, since it's 10:00 Xandarian time now. Should we call a team meeting?"

Gamora hesitated, before nodding, "This is a decision we all need to agree on."

"I'll go call the guys."

* * *

Peter knocked softly on the metal door, resting his forehead against the cool surface, "Uh, hey Rocket. It's me again."

He sighs, "Um, you probably don't know since you didn't go to the meeting, but you remember that weird ass Ravager ship that was following us? Yeah, well, were meeting it on some small crappy little planet in the Haxla System. Talking to them and stuff, maybe fighting, I don't know." He scratched at his stubbly chin.

"They threatened us with death if we didn't follow their commands, y'know, the usual shit we deal with. Kraglin told us not to take it too seriously, since we're technically Ravagers as well, and it's against the code to kill fellow Ravagers or something. Although, he did make it sound like there was a possibility this was a rebel group. So I don't know what to think anymore.".

Peter bit his lip, before continuing, "What I do know though, is that everybody would feel better if you came to meet them with us. Even though I hate to admit it, you've got the best shot out of anybody in this rag team group. If things go bad, I'd want you to be there. Um, but I understand if you don't want to die today, so you can continue to stay in your room or whatever."

He began to pull away from the door, before pausing, "...Um, I also just wanna say… I'm really sorry about ruining your suit, Rocket. After all of this is over, I'll happily get another one made for you, all expenses on me."

Peter patted the door softly, "So yeah, I guess I'll see you later then. Uh, bye."

The Terran hesitated, before sighing when Rocket didn't reply, walking back to the cockpit.

He hadn't noticed Rocket's door open softly once he had left.

* * *

The Guardians, all except for one, were getting ready in their Recreational room for the meeting. Drax sharpened his knifes, before placing them in their holsters; Gamora doing the same with Godslayer.

Peter had finished adjusting his guns, making sure they were fully functional, before doing his usual check up on his rocket boots.

Groot was sitting on the rec table, still playing his game, while Mantis watched with a confused but sweet smile. They weren't going to the meeting, but decided to stay in the room to see them off anyway.

Every now and again, Kraglin's voice would come over the PA system and give them an update on their time remaining until they landed. Other than that, it was oddly silent, which could be explained with Rocket's absence.

"I am Groot?" The teenager looked up from his game, a worried frown on his face as if he had just noticed they were missing a member.

Gamora and Peter shared a hesitant glance, somehow conversing with just their eyes, before returning their gaze to the teen.

"It does not seem like Rocket will be joining us." She answered softly.

"B-but hey, that's okay! We don't need him." Peter grinned, hoping to wipe Groot's worried frown off his face, "We can handle this easy peasy."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. Afterall, going in without the team's  _best_  shooter would be mistake now, wouldn't it StarMunch?"

Peter jumped at the sound of Rocket's voice, a grin coming to his face as he turned around to face his friend, "I swear if you only came out here to rub that in my-"

His voice died out as he saw Rocket, the Terran's blue eyes widening in suprise.

The raccoon looked like his usual cranky self, other than the shiteating smirk plastered on his muzzle; although, his smile began to fall at Quill's continued stare.

"S-something got your tongue, Quill?" Rocket began, snickering softly, but that quickly died away too.

"You're… wearing it?" Peter said after a few moments of awkward silence.

Rocket glanced down at the bright pink jumpsuit he wore, before looking up again to meet Peter's eyes, "Of course I am, this shit was expensive. You think one stupid mistake will change that?"

"I-I mean, you did lock yourself in your quarters for three cycles."

"Pff, that's besides the point," Rocket rolled his eyes, jumping up on the table so he could begin pull all of his equipment together. "You're just lucky I wasn't a fan of the white. It looked drab next to the Krylorian metal."

Peter blinked, shaking his head as if clearing it, "So…You're not mad?"

The raccoon snorted, "'Course I'm mad! You dyed my jumpsuit bright pink! I'm just, y'know, not  _blow up this entire ship while we're both still on it_ mad. Probably because, well, pink isn't the  _worst_  colour in the universe. You could've dyed it yellow.

"Wait wait wait, hold up, you... like pink?" Starlord tried to hide a grin coming to his face, but he was failing miserably.

Rocket stopped checking over a gun he held, a frown coming to his face, "You got a problem with that, StarMunch?"

"No, it's just, well… on Earth, pink is a super girly colour."

"How can a colour be feminine?" Drax frowned, unknowingly saving the group from an argument, "On my home planet, the hunters of my tribe would use the blood of an Organiz; The colour of which is similar to the one Rocket wears now. The hunters would use it on their bodies to blend in to the forests surrounding our village. This pigment meant courage, honour, and was to be respected."

This silenced Peter's snickering, and the Terran began to look remorseful once more, "Uh, yeah, I guess you're right Drax," He frowned, groaning softly, "God, that's something I never thought I'd say."

Rocket laughed at that, before slinging his large gun onto his back. Peter smiled as well, glad to have his friend back, no matter how annoying said friend can be.

Gamora, unknowingly to anyone in the room, smiled to herself aswell; relieved that the two men had made up once more.

"Y'know, pink really does suit you, man. I actually think I did you a favour." Quill grinned.

"Don't push your luck, dickhole."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning on writing another fanfiction that takes place right after where this story ends.
> 
> I decided to break it up since I know some of you guys probably don't care about Lylla stuff, which the next fanfic will be about.
> 
> Speaking of Lylla, how come every Rocket fic I write ends up with at least mentioning her? Is this power a blessing or a curse. Probably both tbh
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, review and fav if you enjoyed, and make sure to keep your eyes out for my new story coming out soon! See ya :)

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudo and a review! Thanks for reading! :)


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